Borderlands 4 will add four new Vault Hunters to its central roster of playable characters, as is tradition for every new Borderlands game. However, developer Gearbox Software also detailed how it plans to add depth to the RPG mechanics of the upcoming game without losing any of its complexity.
Speaking on stage at PAX over the weekend (via GamesRadar), Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford confirmed that Borderlands 4 will introduce four new Vault Hunters. “We will have four brand new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4,” said Pitchford to the mock surprise of developers on stage with him. Each new Borderlands game so far has introduced a handful of new Vault Hunters to the franchise so this is nothing particularly new. However, the development team elaborated on its plans to add more depth to its role-playing mechanics.
Creative director Graeme Timmins explained:
“When we look at the Vault Hunters, the first thing that we always try to look at is ‘what are some fundamental promises and fantasies that players might have that we want to explore?’ Some examples might be – starting way back on BL1 – like a soldier fantasy. Straightforward, FPS-style character, carried on to Axton. Another premise might be our Sirens. Our Sirens speak to a mage or sorcerer fantasy in our very sci-fi world.”
Timmins continued by stating, “Our Sirens have been very ranged in some of their abilities, but then in BL3, we wanted to flip that concept from what Maya was, to Amara – she went more physical and melee based. So even though we have some similar promises, we think it’s important that we switch it up and not do just rote designs, game to game.”
Gearbox emphasised the importance of RPG mechanics in the Borderlands games. For Borderlands 4, the team says it plans on adding depth to those mechanics without compromising the complexity of the experience. Timmins added:
“I think our RPG side of the game is so important. Just like our first-person side, where we’re always looking to expand and add depth, we’re doing that on the RPG side, but we don’t want to do that at the cost of complexity. I always look at our characters and [try to] understand, between their action skills, how much management might be happening when you press the action skill button. Is it just fire and forget? That’s great – it’s a simple return on your investment. Or to get the most value out of this character, do you have to manage your action skill?”
Borderlands 4 launches sometime in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. In case you missed it, Gearbox previously stated that the upcoming sequel has a “far more dangerous” villain than Handsome Jack.
Source: GamesRadar
